Masha Ch. 4

Masha laughed. "I wouldn't have you any other way," she said.

"Yes, you would," I told her, as we went back into the theater. "You'd have me whatever way I wanted you to."

"Kelsey, good, you're back!" exclaimed Robin, pushing me onto the stage.

"She hates me," I told Masha over my shoulder.

I took my place again on stage, and the production assistant left, handing me the robe.

"Thanks," I told him. "Not a whole lot of guys would wear that."

"No problem," he said, grinning, "I'm just glad I wasn't up there for 4 hours."

As it turned out, I was up there for another hour. By the time Jaye finally got the whole thing worked out, it was time to leave. The rest of the cast was pissed they'd waited around for nothing. Robin gave a little pep talk before we were allowed to leave, babbling about how well it had gone.

"Freakin' bullshit," I said loudly, while she babbled. Rick elbowed me in the ribs.

"Kelsey!" scolded Robin, "Watch your mouth."

There was a party Josh had organized for the casts and crews of the shows that were rehearsing over break. Masha had a fitting after rehearsal, so I told her I'd meet her there.

I changed out of my teddy and went back to my dorm to take a shower and a nap. When I woke up it was almost midnight, and I threw something on rushed to the party. I arrived, covered with snow, to find the party in full swing. It was at Rick's frat house again, only this time with no frat brothers, since they were all home for the break.

The lack of frat brothers turned out to be a good thing, at least for Rick, who was making out with another guy in the living room. I found Masha in the kitchen and mentioned this up to her.

"Color me confused," I said, getting a bottle of water from the fridge.

"I know," she nodded.

We walked back out to the living room.

"I really thought he was straight," she said. "In fact, I thought they were both straight."

We were standing there, watching Rick's technique like a couple of voyeurs when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around expecting a mere mortal. Wrong. She was long and lean, wearing big black boots, tight jeans and an even tighter black waffle knit shirt. The cuffs of her sleeves were frayed at the wrists, and the shirt had a few well-placed holes in it. It hit just below her navel, exposing a band of her smooth skin. She had chin-length, straight brown hair and an incredible face. Deep dark eyes, a dusting of freckles, wide cheekbones, perfect nose, amused expression.

I nudged Masha, who'd still been watching Rick. She turned around, saw the goddess, and smiled a greeting. It appeared they knew each other. The three of us stood quietly together, me trying not to drool as I noticed ever more phenomenal details about the stranger's body. Her breasts were smallish and perfectly firm, obstinately stretching the shirt forward. Part of me had the sense to wonder why nobody was saying anything. We all stood looking at each other, the music pounding around us. After a while, Masha got around to introducing us.

"Kelsey, this is Jaye," she said. I stared blankly. "Lighting designer," she whispered in my ear.

"You're kidding," I said, before I could stop myself. Jaye laughed.

"So, were you trying to kill me today, or what?" I demanded, deciding to ignore my attraction to her.

"Well, actually, no," she said. "I want to apologize. That's why I came over."

"Oh," I said brilliantly.

"Some of the instruments were giving me difficulty."

"Evidently," I said bluntly.

"Anyway," she continued, "it's a difficult scene to light, and my initial plan was all wrong. I just wanted to get it right."

"Uh-huh," I said.

"And I'm sorry you had to stand up there so long. I should've had Robin give you a break sooner."

"Damn straight," I said, finally letting her shake my hand.

"But I must admit," she said as she released me, "that I enjoyed the view."

I blushed, but was still angry with her.

"Can I get you a drink?" she asked timidly.

I showed her my bottle of water.

"I have a drink," I barked. I turned and walked away.

Masha was on my heels.

"Kelsey, that was rude," she scolded.

I looked at my shoes.

"It's not really her fault, you know," Masha told me. "Robin knows to give you a break every two hours."

It occurred to me this was true. Jaye wasn't supposed to keep track of our breaks; Robin was. Still, I'd been really miserable up there and wanted to be angry with someone. I quickly made the decision to switch my anger to its rightful target—Robin. I was thrilled to stop denying my attraction to Jaye. I'd only been doing it for six minutes, and frankly, I was already exhausted.

A few hours later, the party had degraded into a drunken game of spin the bottle. I was still sober, having stuck to water all night. I volunteered to spin first, amused at the third-graderness of it all. I was shooting for Jaye, who'd been neatly avoiding me since I'd stormed off. Naturally, I got Robin.

"I'm not kissing her!" I scoffed, knowing everyone was drunk enough not to take offense. Robin did look mildly hurt, and for a moment I was sorry. Then Rick instituted a new rule that seemed to make sense to all of the drunk people.

"Since Kelsey won't kiss her," he slurred, "she has to spin again and have sex with the next person she gets."

They all cheered, seeming to think this was the ultimate in fairness. So I spun again. Again, I got Robin.

"No way," I said, laughing. Then, more thoughtfully, "She's straight, anyway. She doesn't wanna fuck me."

"Kelsey," declared Rick, pointing his finger, "you are a cheater at this game!"

"Whatever," I said, spinning again.

Still no Jaye. I spun and spun, everyone calling me a cheater, shoving me and getting increasingly unruly. Finally, I just passed the bottle to Josh on my left and crawled across the circle.

"Bottle, schmottle," I whispered to Jaye, as I cradled her neck with my hand and kissed her.

She was surprised, and I could feel the heat of her blush against my face as I slowly introduced my tongue. Her pulse pressed into my fingertips. It took a moment for her to respond, and I enjoyed my time as the aggressor, her mouth opening slowly as she decided to let me in. When I broke away, I smiled into her eyes and scuttled back to my place in the circle.

"You like her," Masha quietly observed.

"Uh-huh," I said.

We looked at each other.

"So do I," she said huskily.

My palms started to sweat.

"Should we have a fisticuffs?" I wondered.

"I'd win," Masha said, smiling. "I'm bigger."

"Or is the modern way for us to let her choose?" I ventured.

"She'd have some trouble with that," she said.

"Oh?" I said.

She nodded.

"I believe," said Masha, "the modern way is to share."

I knew I loved her for a reason.

"Let's get her out of here," Masha said.

She got up, but I stopped her.

"No," I said, "let me."

She smiled and nodded. I went to Jaye and tucked her hair behind her ear. I leaned in and licked her neck, almost as if by accident. We giggled. Our eyes met, and I guided hers to Masha.

"Will you?" I whispered.

"Yes," she said.

We were all in Jaye's car on the way to her place inside of five minutes, in spite of her being parked three blocks away. I was shaking, not because I'd never done this before, but because I wanted to so badly.

Jaye, for some reason, insisted that I drive. No one was drunk, but I was the soberest of the three. Her place was about fifteen minutes away, and she directed me, leaning between the seats to point. It seemed strange to be talking about where to turn, given what we were all feeling.

Masha, sitting next to me, was antsy. At the second red light I knew the ride was long, and that she'd been thinking too much.

"Jaye," she piped up, "this time it's different."

I had a moment to wonder about the other time. Then Masha continued.

"This time Kelsey's my priority," she said.

Jaye shifted behind me.

"Mine, too," she said, almost threateningly.

I could feel them glare at each other in the darkness.

"Look," I said, a little pissed, "if this is gonna be a taking turns at Kelsey thing, then we can do it one at a time, and one of you can go home."

They just sat there.

"And that would be a shame," I said, "because right now I could eat you both alive, especially if you're gonna fuck while you're pissed at each other like this."

After that, the two of them shut up. Jaye continued to tell me where to go, of course, but I felt the power shift, intoxicatingly, in my direction. By the time we got out of the car I'd taken Jaye's keys and was unlocking her door as if it were my own.

Inside, I figured out where things were, put on a cd, dimmed the lights, and opened a bottle of wine. During all of this, Jaye and Masha barely managed to get out of their coats. I wondered briefly at their ineptitude, then handed Jaye the wineglass. She drank, passed it to Masha, who drank and passed it to me. Nobody said anything. Eventually the glass was empty.

I refilled it and kissed Masha, losing patience with the niceties. I shoved my hands into the pockets of her pants, yanking her in Jaye's direction while my tongue spiraled deeper into the heat of her mouth. Jaye got the idea, and I felt her palm snaking up my side beneath my shirt. I gasped at the heat of her hand and stopped kissing Masha, who'd started unbuttoning Jaye's fly. I grabbed the back of Jaye's head and kissed her, meeting her tongue with a shudder as someone ripped my shirt.

We tumbled to the floor and struggled to undress each other. By the time I saw Masha take Jaye's nipple into her mouth, I needed to be inside someone, so I slid my fingers into Jaye, reaching around her panties which I hadn't had time to remove. She was wet and warm and gasping. I lowered myself over her as I fucked her, licking upwards from her stomach and meeting Masha's tongue at her nipple. I kissed Masha as I fucked Jaye, feeling very much like I wanted to be inside both of them.

I kissed Masha into a prone position, still moving my fingers inside Jaye. I yanked clumsily at Masha's pants with my left hand and wished fleetingly to be ambidextrous. I moved in and out of Jaye as I watched Masha take off her pants, for once submitting. When she was naked, she spread beneath me, and I entered her, pushing in and finding myself light-headed. I felt almost reverent as I fucked both of them. I leaned down to drag my tongue over hips and stomachs, losing track of who was who. I was in a blissful oblivion of skin, my fingers surrounded by the planet's greatest invention. I was breathless and afraid to move, for fear that it might stop. But I kept fucking them anyway, and they kept letting me, stroking my neck and kissing each other. Before I had time to fully enjoy my position, Jaye started to come, moaning, her tongue buried in Masha's mouth. Masha stroked her hair as she came.

Seconds later Jaye was on top of me, which I didn't want, so I pushed her back. She clambered around, kissing and fighting me over Masha's prone nakedness. We struggled with each other until I slid slowly out of Masha and started to get up.

"Back in five," I told them, leaving Jaye to get Masha off.

I had to pee—all that water. Wiping was an exercise in futility, and I was reluctant to wash my hands. I savored their wetness as it slid off of me under the water. I looked at my hands and tried to catch my breath. I was afraid but also desperate to go back out there. I wondered wildly how this had happened to me, what wonderful thing I had done to deserve it.

I eventually attributed it to Masha. She was not a person, but a force. She taught people things without even trying. When she believed in something, she didn't so much believe it, as she became it. It made it seem impossible to believe anything else. The way she pushed herself into the world, shoving aside the parts that didn't make sense to her without a second thought was revolutionary and transcendent.

Walking back into the living room I saw that Jaye had ended up underneath Masha, not surprisingly. For some reason I didn't feel like joining them, so I went into the dining room. I got myself a glass of wine and sat at the table, leafing through the newspaper I found there. The news seemed different to me, less alarming, and somehow easier to classify.

After a while, I looked up and saw Masha standing in the doorway, wrapped up in a sheet. I got up and walked over to her.

"Moving to the bedroom?" I asked gently, plucking at the sheet.

She shook her head.

"Jaye's lighting candles in the bathroom," she informed me, excitedly. "We're all going to take a shower."

"Are you real?" I asked, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

She smiled. We stood there and looked at each other stupidly.

"I love you," she said.

"What, now you tell me?" I teased.

She nodded and, strangely, blushed.

"Because you know I'm just about to go in there and fuck that woman again," I threatened.

"I know," she said.

We ambled to the bathroom, hand in hand.